Sanity Optional
by Higuchimon
Summary: [4/4 chapters, 4seasonal LJ challenge, complete, Edo x Fubuki/Fubuki x Edo, Fameshipping] Spring, summer, autumn, winter. Four seasons, four situations, four sights of beauty, four moments between two people whose sanity is questionable.
1. Tricks and Challenges

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** Sanity Optional  
**Chapter Title:** Tricks and Challenges  
**Story Word Count:** 3,433  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,433  
**Rated:** T  
**Romance:** Tenjoin Fubuki x Edo Phoenix  
**Notes:** This takes place about five years after the end of Yu-Gi-Oh GX. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**LJ Challenge:** This was written for the 4seasonal LJ challenge.  
**Summary:** Spring, summer, autumn, winter. Four seasons, four situations, four sights of beauty, four moments between two people whose sanity is questionable.

* * *

Edo had no idea of what had gotten into his manager. He was a _duelist_, not an actor. Even if one of the most famous actors in the world was also a duelist. _He_ only wanted to have his face all over the screen if he were dueling someone. He didn't even really want it then, but it was necessary so he put up with it.

But, his manager was insistent. "Not only will this be very, very lucrative, but it will do wonders for finding you new sponsors." And since without sponsors, there was no way that he could continue in the Pro Leagues, there was no way out of it for Edo. As much as he hated that fact.

So, there he was, on a perfectly beautiful spring day, staring at a script and wondering exactly what kind of a hack had written this monstrosity. There were at least four plot holes that he could see on the first ten pages already, and the dialogue read atrociously. Someone had been _paid_ in _money_ to write this drivel?

"They don't actually expect me to say something like this, do they?" he was asking the empty air, but oddly enough, the air decided to answer.

"What's wrong with it? I think it's pretty funny myself." That voice. He'd heard it before but he couldn't remember just where from off-hand.

He didn't bother to turn around though. Whoever it was could just come around in front of him if they wanted him to look at them. "You obviously haven't read it closely enough, then. This character I'm supposed to be playing apparently has a spine made out of moldy oatmeal and the intelligence of a retarded cucumber."

A sun bronzed hand reached around him to snatch at the script. Snatch _at_, not out, since Edo moved it away before the other could get hold of it. "Hey! How do you expect me to look at it if you're going to keep it?"

"Get one of your own." Edo did not share well with others.

"Why would I want to do that?" Really, Edo was quite certain that he knew that voice. He just couldn't think of where from. "It's not like I need to read the script anyway."

Edo snorted some. "What are you doing hanging around here then?" In his opinion, everyone involved in this farce should read the script, if only to know how loudly they should laugh at it.

"Waiting for shooting to start. I'm the star." And now he wandered around in front of Edo and now Edo recognized him and now Edo understood exactly why the fool had been saying what he had. No one who had any contact with Tenjoin Fubuki could ever think he would react in a way that made any kind of sense.

He'd known that he was going to run into the other man during this. It would have been impossible not to, since they were supposed to be 'co-starring' in this. He had not, however, expected that the other wouldn't even have so much as read the script. "How can you not read it then?" He refused to show any hint of surprise.

"What would I need to read it for?" Fubuki asked carelessly. There was a couch in the room, and he stretched himself out on it, one leg tossed up on the back, and one arm behind his head. "That's too boring."

Edo wondered just from that alone how someone like Fubuki could have become one the richest and most popular film stars ever to walk the planet. His looks couldn't have been the only factor responsible. Who would just want to _look_ at someone? He'd certainly never went to a movie just to ogle a pretty face. "How do you know what you're supposed to say or do if you don't read it?"

"I don't. I make up most of it as we go along." Fubuki grinned in a way that made Edo wish he had his manager's neck between his hands and could just start squeezing.

"You make it up as we go along?" Edo repeated the words carefully. He had spoken fluent Japanese for years, helped along by Saioh and Mizuchi, but this still baffled him. _Had_ he heard Fubuki correctly?

Fubuki nodded lazily, then reached over to the table in front of the couch to pick up an orange. Edo threw himself down into a chair opposite and stared at the script for a few more seconds before he finally just threw it to the side. If Fubuki wanted to improvise on set, then Edo would quite simply out-improvise him, finish this, and be back dueling again in no time. He glanced over to see what the other was doing, and his jaw almost dropped to see Fubuki dig his fingers into the orange and start to peel it.

It was a simple, commonplace act. Edo himself had done it more than enough times. But something in the way Fubuki's long, graceful fingers moved made it something more. Not to mention, he kept the peel itself complete until the orange was completely stripped. Then, he took a bite out of it.

Edo was three steps away from excusing himself in an attempt to get some sort of composure. Normal people did not eat oranges like that. It was all but obscene! And yet…nothing unusual was going on. Was it all in his own mind? And if so…had he been drinking and not noticed?

"Want an orange?" Fubuki picked up another one and tossed it towards him without waiting for an answer. Edo caught it reflexively, then stared down at it before looking back to where Fubuki was finishing his own. He swallowed briefly and put the orange back in the bowl.

"No." He didn't think he could do that to some innocent fruit that had never done anything to him. If it had been some sort of evil orange that had…what was he thinking? Was being around someone like Fubuki already affecting his head? "When does this ridiculous little batch of…whatever get started?" There were no words in any of the languages he knew for what he felt about this 'movie'. Perhaps he'd start to invent a few.

"Probably whenever the rain out there stops." Fubuki stretched out a little, licking orange juice off of his lips as he did. Edo was not looking. He not-looked very, very hard. Wait, what had he said?

"Rain?" It hadn't been raining when he'd come inside. Sure, there had been a few clouds, but no actual rain, and no forecast for any either. Not that he really expected the weathermen to get something right. Now, if he'd asked Saioh, perhaps that would have been different.

Fubuki turned towards him, or so Edo thought by the whisper of cloth across the material of the couch. He wasn't looking, so he couldn't be sure. "Rain. It's the wet stuff that comes from the clouds." There was more than a hint of a tease in his voice now, and Edo wondered how Fubuki would look with his features conveniently rearranged into a pattern that he himself personally found far more pleasing. Fubuki didn't need both eyes right above his nose, or his nose above his mouth, or his mouth in one piece, did he?

"I know what rain is. Why is it raining _now_?" He wanted to get this farce over with and find something more interesting to do with his time. The first five items on his mental list covered watching paint dry and observing how grass grew. Multiple times.

"I'm not a weather-guy." Fubuki laughed, a very rippling and enticing sound. Edo refused to be enticed. At all. Very hard. He didn't even _know_ this guy and already he was…no, he wasn't. He would not do this even if he did know him. "But it does happen a lot." Edo promised himself that if he could arrange it, there would be an 'accident' on set at his earliest convenience.

Edo moved closer to a window, and now he could hear the faint sounds of rain pattering down outside. A spring shower, nothing too serious, but since no scenes demanded rain, and most of them did demand some sort of measure of being outdoors, shooting was apparently halted. A really _good_ studio, Edo decided, would have made arrangements for this by filming indoors and using special effects and the like. It was just another way to prove this production was being run by idiots.

Fubuki reached over his shoulder and pulled the curtain back some, showing the gray clouds more clearly. "I bet there's going to be a rainbow after this," he said, grinning. "Those are awesome."

"I suppose." Edo supposed no such thing. Rainbows were for people like…like _Johan Andersen_. Not for people like him. If anything, he actually preferred the rain. It put him in mind of standing under an umbrella with someone, and that was much more comfortable in his mind than seeing some trick of the light going across the sky.

The other man appeared to be thinking for a moment. Edo wondered nastily just how hard it was for him. He turned away from the window and started back to the couch, intending to look over this script and know what he was supposed to say, even if Fubuki didn't. His earlier thoughts about out-improvising Fubuki were forgotten. Not that he couldn't do it. He just didn't want to follow this hideously bad example.

"You know what makes rainbows, don't you?" Was he still there? Couldn't he see that Edo didn't want to talk to him?

"Yes." Edo didn't lift his gaze from the script for so much as a second. He didn't want to talk, but he did suspect that if he didn't, Fubuki would not leave him alone. A little conversation was preferable to a lot of it.

And then Fubuki was sitting beside him on the couch, and one finger was pointed at his white suit. "You make a rainbow," he said dramatically, as if Edo had never said a word, "by breaking up white light. You're all white. Have you ever been broken?"

_His father's body. Unmoving. Never to move again. _

_ Saioh, consumed by the power of the Light of Ruin. _

_ Ekou, giving up her very life for a love that would never be returned in as great a measure._

He knocked Fubuki's hand away and glared at him with the concentrated force of _get away from me_. "Are you insane?" He didn't expect an answer. He already knew what the answer was: an unmistakable yes. No one could have asked him that question and been sane.

"What do you think?" Fubuki moved his hand back a little and got himself more comfortable, spreading his arms over the back of the couch and putting his feet up on the table. "Do I act crazy?"

"You're not acting." Edo replied flatly, pulling himself away. Someone had to be serious around here, and it didn't look as if Fubuki were going to be up for the job at any point in the near future. Or the distant future. Or at any point until the end of time itself.

"Maybe I'm not." Fubuki quirked a grin at him. "But that's why you love me, isn't it?"

Edo froze where he was. Those words had just not been uttered. He would have been far, far less shocked to hear _Saioh_ say them. It would have been virtually _comforting_ to hear them, though he knew that he never would. "What did you say?" Maybe he had indeed heard something wrong. He wasn't much past his twenty-first birthday, but that didn't mean he couldn't have been developing hearing problems.

"I said, you love me because I'm crazy." That grin was still there. Edo wanted to smack it off of his face _so damned hard_. He could do it, too. He could have knocked Fubuki halfway through the wall if he'd put the effort into it. But what he'd heard simply kept him frozen where he was. No one had ever said anything like that to him.

"I don't love you. I never said anything like that." Maybe it was _Fubuki_ who had hearing problems to go with his obvious problems of sanity, or lack thereof. That made much more sense, the more that Edo thought about it.

The older man only shrugged, and that grin hadn't faded for so much as a single moment. "You didn't have to. I said it for you." He started to move closer to Edo, and a lesser trained person might well have been caught by that. Edo was not such a lesser trained person, and he was on the far side of the room in a scant second or two. "Playing hard to get? That's not in the script."

"I did an emergency rewrite." Edo replied, ice rimming the edges of his words. "What makes you think I'd even be interested in you?" Edo wasn't certain offhand just who, or what, he _was_ interested in, when it came right down to it. He'd had to have a few dates, mainly for publicity, and there had been a couple of times when he and Saioh had went out together that almost seemed like dates, but hadn't been in the end.

Fubuki just grinned at him still. God_damn_, but Edo wanted to wipe that smirk off of his face _somehow_, even if it was only for a second or two. He'd been off-kilter ever since Fubuki had shown up and doing that would put him back in control of the situation. "I think I'm interested in you," Fubuki replied calmly. "And I think that's all that I need."

Coherency deserted Edo just then, as did the ability to make audible sounds. He shook his head and pinched himself surreptitiously. Insane, dreaming, deaf…he didn't know what he was, he just knew that this was not supposed to be happening.

"Hey!" Someone that he didn't recognize, not that he cared since they were interrupting a moment he didn't think should have begun in the first place, poked their head into the room. "We're just about ready for you guys. By the time you're done with make-up, we'll need you on the set."

"No problem. I'll get him right over there." Fubuki said before Edo could find out if his inability to talk extended to random movie personnel. The assistant or whoever it was nodded and closed the door behind himself as he left. Edo wanted to think he heard a chuckle…no, he didn't want to think that. But he thought he did anyway.

He didn't even have a moment to try to pretend that he was interested in something else, or didn't need to be shown which way to go in order to get to the make-up crew. Fubuki just grabbed his arm, and how _had_ he moved that fast and Edo didn't catch it that time? It shouldn't have been possible!

Though, really, most of that afternoon seemed to be impossible as far as his mental health was concerned.

Edo was not often disconcerted to the point he didn't pay attention to what was going on around him, but by the time he could actually focus enough to take note of what was going on around himself, they were out of that room and heading down towards to a trailer of some kind. At least that was where Edo thought they were going. It was hard to be entirely certain at the moment.

"Getting the make-up on shouldn't take too long," Fubuki said. Edo was also not certain if he'd even been talking before. His own inner fury had handily distracted him. "Just an hour or two. I don't need a whole lot to look at my best, and neither do you."

Now that sort of compliment Edo knew how to deal with in a sense. More than one person had told him that he was gorgeous or handsome or some variation on that. It had ceased to mean anything to him at all. "I've had to deal with make-up before." It was quite true. Being in the Pros meant at least half an hour before the duel started with powder and paint being used to make certain that one didn't look like a ghost on camera. With his natural pale coloring, he needed a bit more than most people, too.

"Hey! Look!" Fubuki jerked to a stop, halting Edo as well, and one graceful hand gestured towards the eastern sky. Edo ground his teeth. He did not want to stop for some kind of a side trip that involved admiring whatever oddly shaped cloud might have caught Fubuki's attention. Or perhaps it was an interestingly colored leaf. Or an ordinary pebble. Any of those were likely enough. "Come on! Look!"

Fine. Maybe it would make him shut up. Edo turned a little and took a look. Arching across the sky, part of it buried in a slightly red-tinged cloud, was a rainbow. Edo admitted to himself that it was rather pretty. He hadn't bothered to watch too many of them in his life before. They had nothing to do with the goals that he had set for himself.

"Isn't it gorgeous?" Fubuki all but breathed the words out, honest admiration filling his voice. "There's not much better looking than something like that."

"It's just a trick of the light." Edo said, not really understanding what Fubuki saw in it. Sure, it was pretty. But it was ultimately empty and meaningless. Heh, maybe that was what Fubuki saw in it. It must remind him of himself. They did share quite a few similarities, after all.

Fubuki glanced back at him for a moment, a strange sort of smile hovering over his lips. "What's that got to do with anything? It's still beautiful."

"But it doesn't do anything!" Edo protested. What was he doing standing here arguing about rainbows!? Didn't they need to get to make-up? This was so ridiculous! "And look, it's gone!"

Fubuki's smile only got stranger. "No, it isn't." He looked back, but the rainbow had indeed faded away as the sun moved out of the right alignment to the raindrops in the air. Edo smirked a touch smugly. He was right. Now maybe they could get moving. "It's still there."

Edo wanted to scream. Loudly. "Where?" Was Fubuki wearing rainbow vision contact lenses?

"In here." Fubuki touched his chest briefly. "That's where everything that's truly beautiful stays, even if you can't see it with your eyes."

For a moment, Edo stared at him as if he had never heard something like that coming from a human mouth. That was simply because he hadn't. He didn't know if it were extremely profound or a mark of how incredibly simple Fubuki actually was. _He is crazy._ Without another word, he whirled around and stalked towards the make-up trailer. He could tell Fubuki was following him, at least until the taller man caught up with him. He growled to himself; he had put on a couple of inches since first being drawn into Juudai's circle of insane people, but Fubuki was _still_ taller than he was. Right now, that bothered him. Right now, everything about Fubuki bothered him, right down to the fact that he existed in the first place.

"Hey." Fubuki caught him by the shoulder and turned him around, and Edo was just irked enough to let him do it, just so he could glare at him. "You need to relax. Here."

In retrospect, Edo thought that he should've expected something like that. But who would have ever thought anyone would do that to him? With Fubuki's comment about relaxation, he'd expected…no, he hadn't expected anything, really.

Certainly not for Fubuki to bend down, catch Edo's chin between his fingertips, and kiss him on the lips.

And as oddly as it might have and did seem…that kiss _was_ relaxing. And good. Very, very good. There was even some tongue involved, though Edo wasn't sure of what Fubuki's tongue was actually _doing_.

Then the other pulled away and calmly walked towards the make-up trailer. Edo stared after him in disbelief before he started there again himself. _He expects me to relax after that? The bastard._

If that was the way Fubuki wanted to play, then he would find out Edo could play any game he could, and do it better. He _was_ one of the best, after all. If that had been a challenge…he accepted.

**To Be Continued**


	2. Sea, Sand, and Sun

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** Sanity Optional  
**Chapter Title:** Sea, Sand, and Sun  
**Story Word Count:** 6,710  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,277  
**Rated:** T  
**Romance:** Tenjoin Fubuki x Edo Phoenix  
**Notes:** This takes place about five years after the end of Yu-Gi-Oh GX, and about three months after the first chapter. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**LJ Challenge:** This was written for the 4seasonal LJ challenge.  
**Summary:** Spring, summer, autumn, winter. Four seasons, four situations, four sights of beauty, four moments between two people whose sanity is questionable.

* * *

Fubuki stretched out on his beach blanket, enjoying the feel of the warm summer sunshine as it soaked into his skin. He'd made certain to put on sunscreen; the last thing that he needed was some kind of a burn. Peeling was not on his preferred list of ways to spend time.

_I wonder if Edo peels._ He grinned just at the thought of the pale young man who he had spent so much time with in the last few months. Fubuki couldn't say he would be surprised if Edo _didn't_ peel: but burned. He certainly looked like the burning type.

_He's tougher than he looks, though._ Fubuki had absolutely no doubt about that. They'd done little more than kiss since the previous spring when they'd started on their movie together. But Fubuki knew quite well what Edo was capable of. When something interested him, he could research just as well as any elite student of the Academy, since he _was_ one of the elite.

That was part of why he'd worked so hard to get Edo signed onto the movie with him. He wanted to spend time around him and figure out if the interest he'd first begun to cultivate after watching a few of Edo's Pro duels was worth developing more. And if it had a chance of being reciprocated. So far, so good. Even if Edo didn't know it yet.

But he would, in time. It could take lots of time, and Fubuki could be patient when the goal was something worth waiting for. Edo was. He was _very_ much worth waiting for.

Edo should be there, Fubuki decided. Right there, with him, enjoying the summer sun. If he burned…well, then that would be bad, but it would also be a chance for Fubuki to take care of him. They didn't have to do any more shooting for another couple of weeks, so if it did happen, Edo would likely enough be back on his feet by then.

He dug his cell phone out of his bag, not even bothering to open his eyes, and hit the right buttons to send a call to Edo.

"How did you get my number?" Ah, that mildly annoyed voice. Fubuki had missed it. The caller ID had no doubt betrayed him, but Fubuki didn't much care.

"I have connections. You know that." Fubuki replied calmly. "It's a great day at the beach. Why aren't you down here enjoying it with me?" He even managed to sound a touch petulant about it. It had worked once on Asuka. When they were five. Fubuki didn't like to change what worked even once.

Edo sighed, sounding even more annoyed than usual. "Why would I want to be there with you?"

"Why wouldn't you want to be here with me?" Fubuki asked even more calmly than before. Really. Did he have to spell it out or something? One would think with two degrees or whatever it was that Edo had, he could figure out when someone was asking him out. Especially someone as attractive as Fubuki.

Or perhaps he had and he was playing hard to get. Fubuki liked that. It gave him a challenge. And Edo was quite an interesting challenge already. After the first day of shooting, he had certainly made several approaches towards Fubuki himself, and they were _certainly_ on the level of a challenge.

Edo said nothing at all for a breath or two, and when he did, there was a hint of exasperation. "You're going to bother me until I come down there, aren't you?"

"Yes." Fubuki said. That was only to be expected. He wanted Edo's company and wasn't going to stop until he had it. "You could use the time off, anyway. How many times have you made your hands bleed practicing?"

Again, there was silence. Edo had never told Fubuki that he practiced that hard. It was Manjoume who had given him that information months ago, when Fubuki had first started to ask him about the younger duelist.

"All right. I'll be there in twenty minutes." Edo didn't wait around for Fubuki to tell him anything else, just closed the connection.

Fubuki closed his own phone and put it away again, smiling just a touch smugly. He'd known that would get Edo to actually take a little time out to rest, even if it were just to make sure Fubuki didn't ask more questions like that. And he probably wanted to know how Fubuki knew in the first place. _Not that I'm going to tell him Manjoume said anything._ He'd promised that he wouldn't, anyway.

He settled himself back down more comfortably on the blanket, his eyes not having opened at all the whole time. He purred comfortably to himself; Edo was going to enjoy this if Fubuki had to persuade him to do it with his lips. He rather hoped that Edo would need to be persuaded like that. After all these months, he'd gotten quite used to those kisses, and he wanted more of them.

There was something about Edo that was tantalizing and attractive, even more than his pale good looks, occasionally cold demeanor, and hero complex. All of those were perks, above and beyond what Fubuki himself was initially drawn to. Specifically _what_ that was, Fubuki didn't actually know. Or care. He knew what he wanted, and it was summoned up in two words: Edo Phoenix.

"At least you had the good sense to pick a place that's not crowded." And so the grand Pro duelist spoke from behind him. Fubuki lifted one hand and waved casually.

"I knew you wouldn't like that." It was true; though he himself would have preferred a place that was much more involved with people than this one. But now and then, he could bring himself to think about other people. Of course, he was also thinking in terms of certain other factors as well. If there had been a huge crowd of people, it would have interfered with some of the plans that he would like to put into motion.

He cracked one eyelid and frowned to see that Edo was still in his perfectly pressed white suit. "You're not going to stay in that, are you?" It was _summer_. They were at the _beach_. That was hardly what Edo needed to be wearing.

"I said I'd come. I didn't say that I'd wear something like that." Edo cast his eyes down to Fubuki and his own swimwear. Said swimwear did not really cover that much, but Fubuki had nothing that could even resemble shame so did to care. The better he looked in something, the better it was for him, and he knew he looked good in this. It was also suitable for surfing if he wanted to get in some of that. He could multi-task even with his clothes.

Fubuki had expected something like that. He knew how Edo thought, after all. Not only had he been hanging out with him on set, but they did share Ryou for a friend. And while prying Ryou's jaws open about anything that wasn't dueling was the next thing to impossible, Fubuki knew how to do it. "You're going to sit around here for the next few hours in that suit and probably melt where you're sitting. And you call me crazy."

"I brought sunscreen." Edo bent down and pulled a small bag from behind himself, then dug out a bottle from within it. He started to generously apply it to his hands and neck, while still not making any kind of a move to remove his suit. Fubuki rolled his eyes. Edo was trying to be difficult. And he was doing a very good job of it.

He leaned over to poke at the back of Edo's hand. "You're still not going to be comfortable. And what about swimming? And having fun? That's what I want you here for." And possibly convenient kissing. But why spill all of it anyway, especially when Edo was smart enough to figure it out on his own? It wasn't as if they hadn't done it more than once after all.

"Do you think I have swim trunks on under this?" Edo asked, one fine pale eyebrow arching as he did. Fubuki eyed him back thoughtfully, considering what he knew about Edo, and what he himself would probably have done if he were Edo.

"Yes." He grinned very, very wickedly as a thought occurred to him. "Would you like me to look and find out?"

"I don't think that will be necessary." Edo sniffed slightly as he straightened up, his bag in one hand. "Especially since you're wrong." He turned away, taking a few steps towards one of the changing booths available some distance away. Then he glanced back, a slightly wicked grin on his lips . "It's in my bag."

Fubuki only grinned back at him, just as wickedly, then shooed him on. He quite looked forward to seeing what Edo looked like in a pair of good swim trunks. As much as he'd tried, he hadn't been able to get him into any before now, despite some of their shared interests. Edo could be very stubborn when he chose to be. That was probably why he and Ryou got along as well as they did now.

Among his other good qualities, Edo was quite efficient when it came to changing clothes, and within a very few minutes he was back out there. He still held his bag, and from within it he pulled out something else. It looked to be a simple metallic rod: until Edo extended it and pulled on the top, and the rod turned into a beach umbrella, which he promptly planted beside Fubuki. The bag then produced a towel, which Edo spread out and sat down upon, then looked at Fubuki with a defiant smile of triumph.

"Good." Fubuki nodded approvingly. He really didn't want to see Edo getting a sunburn that badly, so the umbrella made sense. It was a deep shade of gray, several shades darker than Edo's usual suits, and cast a comfortable shadow as well. "Good thinking."

"If I'm going to be here, I'm going to be comfortable my way." Edo said a trifle tartly. Then he picked his sunscreen bottle up again and started to rub it along his arms briskly. Fubuki shook his head.

"You'll never get it done right like that." He reached over and plucked it from Edo's hand neatly, then gestured for him to lay down. "I'll take care of it." This was not an excuse to get his hands on Edo. No one with any sense would think that. Luckily, Fubuki had never really cared what people with sense thought.

Edo eyed him just for a moment before he stretched out on his blanket, which was, of course, another shade of white. Fubuki had noticed almost everything that Edo owned was either white, gray, or silver to some extent, with the occasional trimming of sapphire blue. The colors did fit him, of course, and Fubuki approved of them without reservation. But once in a while, he did think about what Edo would look like in something else.

He checked out the degree of protection on the sunscreen and blinked once or twice. "You know, I've known vampires who didn't use sunscreen this strong."

That got a blue eye turned up towards him, full of disbelief. "Since when have you known any vampires at all?"

"Since my first year at the Academy." Fubuki replied without missing a beat. "Didn't Ryou ever tell you about Camula?"

Edo shook his head and Fubuki grinned. That meant that _he_ got to tell the story, and he loved to tell stories, since it usually meant someone was paying attention to him. And everything that had happened was so far in the past that he didn't mind thinking about it, either. "Well, it all really got started when I first went to the Academy and met Ryou and Yusuke and we all got to be friends."

He kept on talking, spinning the fantastic tale with only a little embellishment, for the sake of drama, and ended it with a modified version of Juudai's duel against Camula. He hadn't actually seen that, of course, being still mostly in his coma at the time, but he'd been able to watch it, and Ryou's duel against her, on the PDAs afterwards. Those were _so_ useful, and he'd quite enjoyed catching up on what he'd missed.

"And she used sunscreen." Those were the first words Edo said as Fubuki finished applying the mixture to his skin. Not that he'd actually stopped moving his hands across Edo. The other's muscles were quite strong and defined beneath his pale skin, and Fubuki was more than enough of a sensualist to enjoy how they felt against his fingers. It wasn't as if he had the chance to do this every day, so he was going to enjoy it to the fullest.

And if he had had the chance to do it every day, he would have done so anyway right now.

"Actually, no," Fubuki replied cheerfully. "She never went out in the sun at all. If she had to move around in the daylight, she made it fog up so the sun didn't get through to her. I don't think she ever bothered going to the beach once. Too bad. It could've helped her disposition if she had." Not that _he'd_ went to the beach then, being under Darkness's grip, but it was the principle of the matter.

Edo snorted a little and pushed Fubuki back so he could turn over. The other only sat back a little, grinning as he did. "You know, we should go swimming. The water's great today."

"You say that every day." Edo pointed out. Fubuki did not argue. It was true, after all. "And I'm not going to go swimming when I've just gotten all of this on me."

"It's waterproof," Fubuki pointed that out calmly. "It's not going to wash off that easily."

Edo just shrugged. "Later." It wasn't quite a promise, but it wasn't not one, either, so Fubuki was quite pleased enough to accept it. He reached over to pick up the bottle of water he'd had with him and sucked at it a little. It really was getting hot, but he was in no mood to leave. After all, he'd just gotten Edo down here.

There was a hint of movement, and he was not too surprised to see that Edo had produced a bottle of water of his own from that bag. He reached over and poked at it with one finger curiously. "What else have you got in there? Your car, maybe?"

"Of course not. You couldn't fit a car in there." Edo glowered down at him, which had the same effect as it might have had on a rock. If not less, all things considered.

"You put everything else I've seen you have here in there." Fubuki poked it again, until Edo moved it out of his reach. The brunet pouted as if he'd just lost his favorite toy. Which wasn't true at all, as Edo was his favorite toy. "You still didn't answer me. What else is in there?"

"Whatever I brought with me." Edo shifted around so he looked out over the ocean. "I know how to pack light when I want to."

"The last I heard, all you took with you when you went to _another world_ was a suitcase full of cards," Fubuki taunted, grinning lightly as he did. "So why did you bring a few more things than that here?"

"I had a feeling I was going to be fighting there," Edo replied, apparently more interested in the ocean view than in looking at Fubuki. Fubuki was fine with that. It gave him a view of Edo's profile, which was very pleasing, after all.

Fubuki admired that profile for a while, as well as the rest of Edo. Nearly half an hour had slipped by before he realized it. Time had a way of getting away from Fubuki. He tended not to worry about it, though. He had more important things to do that stare at a clock and a schedule. And since there _had_ been time…well, now…

"Come on!" This time, he didn't give Edo a chance to argue about it. He grabbed hold of the younger man's wrist and pulled him to his feet. If Edo had really not wanted to go, Fubuki was certain he could have broken the grip and stayed where he was. But instead, he simply rose up and started after Fubuki.

"You want to swim."

"You said you would." Fubuki was not taking no for an answer at all, and it was just as well that Edo wasn't going to be giving it. But first, since Edo was so conveniently close, he pulled the pale-haired man closer and wrapped his arms around him. They were both coated in sunscreen, which made things somewhat slippery, and that simply added to the fun for Fubuki.

And before he could lean in to kiss Edo, Edo leaned forward and kissed him deeply on the lips. It wasn't the first time Edo had initiated a kiss between them, but Fubuki still held the record. So he kissed back, his arms tightening somewhat around the other. This was good. This was _very_ good. Edo could be a bit savage when he got into the kissing, and Fubuki matched that with a gentleness that they both enjoyed.

Then Edo stepped back and away, squirming out of his hold, and ran swiftly for the water, as if it had been his entire idea to go there from the start. Fubuki laughed and ran after him, and his longer strides enabled him to get there first. He dived into the waves smoothly, the water embracing him just as the sunlight had caressed him earlier. As much as he enjoyed Edo and his kisses, the sun and the sea were as much his lovers as anything or anyone else ever would be.

He was not at all surprised to see that Edo swam as well as he did everything and anything else. If Edo was going to do something, then he did it as perfectly as he possibly could. Fubuki found that just as appealing as he did so much else about him.

Edo swam by him, his arms and legs cutting the water effortlessly, and Fubuki seized his chance. He pounced swiftly, arms going all around Edo one more time, and kissed him again, first on the lips, then on the chin, and downwards briefly before back up to the lips once more. He stared into Edo's eyes, and kissed him on the tip of the nose.

"Are you busy tonight? We can watch a movie at my place. Get some pizza." And there were a few other things that they could do, but Fubuki liked to spring surprises on people, and this was one of his better ones.

"I have a duel tomorrow night," Edo said after a few moments of quiet. "I need to be there for it."

"You will be." Fubuki promised, mentally revising some of those plans. Maybe they'd be better held after Edo's duel anyway. Victory celebration and all of that. "So, what is it? Yes or no?"

Edo looked at him, and from that look, Fubuki would not have been surprised for a moment if he knew exactly what was going through Fubuki's own mind. And then he nodded briefly. "Yes."

**To Be Continued**


	3. Scarlet and Silver

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** Sanity Optional  
**Chapter Title:** Scarlet and Silver  
**Story Word Count:** 9,949  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,239  
**Rated:** T  
**Romance:** Tenjoin Fubuki x Edo Phoenix  
**Notes:** This takes place about five years after the end of Yu-Gi-Oh GX, and about four months after the first chapter. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**LJ Challenge:** This was written for the 4seasonal LJ challenge.  
**Summary:** Spring, summer, autumn, winter. Four seasons, four situations, four sights of beauty, four moments between two people whose sanity is questionable.

* * *

For all that Fubuki enjoyed being around people as much as he possibly could, he knew quite a few places for just two people to go and be alone with one another. Edo had noticed this within the first week of actually getting to _know_ him. It had been sandwiched somewhere in between learning that Fubuki was an extraordinarily good kisser and learning that Edo would generally want to strangle him three times in the week, and four if Fubuki were trying hard.

But with autumn now full blown and thus, the maple trees turning stunning shades of red, and every other sign of the season, it was actually harder to find places to be alone. At least, it would have been if they had been anyone but the two of them. Edo knew exactly how to get something if he wanted it, and Fubuki just _did_ what he wanted and seldom bothered worrying about the details.

"I thought picnics were more of a spring thing?" Edo eyed the setup that Fubuki had spread out before him. The brunet was busily unpacking a huge basket, and it had not escaped Edo's attention that there were several items of food there that he himself especially enjoyed. As well as many that he knew after all these months that Fubuki took a great pleasure in eating. He also did not recall that he'd ever told Fubuki some of his favorites.

Fubuki just shrugged at that. "What does that have to do with anything?" he asked, sending up one of those amazingly charming smiles of his. Edo could not help but smile at it, though it was a very small smile. Fubuki had a way of making him smile no matter how hard he didn't want to.

As soon as everything had been set out, Fubuki seized hold of Edo's hand and tugged him down to the blanket he'd spread out. A few leaves had already fallen onto it, and Edo picked one up thoughtfully. He'd been in Japan during autumn more than once over the years, and yet he still marveled at how beautiful it was this time of year.

Fubuki reached over, plucked the leaf from his hand, and neatly stuck it behind Edo's ear. Edo didn't even bother trying to take it out. Fubuki would have just put it back anyway. "The premiere is in December," he said instead, pretending that the leaf was right where he had wanted it to be all along. That was the best way to deal with Fubuki.

"That should be fun." Fubuki's eyes gleamed in anticipation as he handed a plate full of food, half of Edo's known favorites and half of a few things he'd never seen before, over to him. "You're going to wear one of _those_, aren't you?" He eyed Edo's white suit with a hint of a disapproving tilt to his lips.

"Why not?" Edo shrugged; he didn't like having to think about what he was going to wear to anything, which was why he had so many copies of his suit. After all, white went with anything and everything, and with his coloring, it wasn't always easy to find something that _did_ look decent.

"You need to try something different." Fubuki nibbled on a small cake, the crumbs decorating his upper lip. Edo did not pay attention to that, of course. Not very much, anyway. "Have you thought about wearing something in…" He eyed Edo thoughtfully. "What about blue? You'd look great in blue."

Edo would accept a lot from Fubuki, more than anyone else other than Saioh or Mizuchi. Fashion advice from someone who wore Hawaiian shirts was going a step too far, however. "I like what I wear."

"If I got you something, would you wear it?" Fubuki, as always, paid attention only to what he actually wanted to hear. Or it translated into something that he wanted to hear in his head, anyway.

"As long as it doesn't look like something you'd wear," Edo temporized. And he might even wear it. Once. Behind closed doors. But going out in public in anything that wasn't one of his suits was _not_ going to happen.

Fubuki only smiled. "You won't have any complaints." He leaned over to kiss Edo, his tongue teasing at a few crumbs that Edo himself had acquired, then leaned back, settling himself against the trunk of a tree. "Spring is always in my heart, anyway."

Edo blinked once or twice, more from the sudden shift of subject than from what Fubuki had said, much less from the kiss itself. "What?" Even he had trouble following Fubuki's line of thought, if it could be called that, at times.

"You said that picnics were a spring thing," Fubuki reminded him. Edo blinked; he'd said that five minutes ago! Maybe ten! He hadn't exactly been paying attention to his watch. "Not to mention, that once you get down to it, there's something romantic about _every_ season, and picnics are always a good way to do something romantic!"

There were many days when Edo wondered exactly what it was that he saw in Fubuki. And he did see something. Perhaps it was the quirkiness. The absolutely insane way of looking at life and the world in general.

Perhaps it was just because Fubuki was really, really good looking, could kiss like a dream, and had several other great qualities.

Or perhaps Edo himself was just out of touch with reality.

At any rate, he rolled his eyes at the moment. "You've got a reason for everything, don't you?" Even if it didn't make any sense. But what did, ultimately, in his life or anyone else's?

"Do I need one?" Fubuki asked casually. Edo rolled his eyes briefly and applied himself to the food. He spared a few glances now and then towards some of the trees, admiring the deepness of the red. It really was something spectacular.

He'd almost finished his food when Fubuki sprang his next surprise on him. "You know what tonight is, right?" Edo tilted his head a bit, thinking. Nothing was coming to mind that he could remember offhand. When he said nothing, Fubuki began to grin. "It's the full moon."

"Oh." There had to be more to it than that. It wasn't as if full moons were rare occasions, after all. They came once a month, sometimes even twice a month.

Fubuki poked him in the side, grinning wickedly. "You've never watched the full moon in autumn, have you?"

"Should I have?" Now that he thought about it, Edo thought he recalled Saioh and Mizuchi having mentioned it before. But it wasn't something he'd really thought about.

"You'll see why when we do tonight." Fubuki finished off his food and pushed the plate to the side. "I got us a king-sized room at that really _good_ hotel in town. Comes with breakfast." He looked much like the cat that had devoured the canary, and Edo wondered what was so special that Fubuki would…

Wait, Fubuki would do that no matter how special or not-special the moon was. Because that was what Fubuki _did_.

"All right." Whatever his boyfriend had in mind, Edo was certain that it was going to be interesting, and he really did look forward to it.

Fubuki worked his way around so that he was right beside Edo and tugged the gray-haired young man down so his head was in Fubuki's lap. Edo only sighed and accepted it. You grew used to Fubuki being affectionate, or you strangled him. Not that Edo hadn't considered it a few times, but it really wasn't worth the effort, not compared to the enjoyment he got by not doing so.

Fubuki's fingers going through his hair were quite enjoyable as well. There weren't many people he felt like he could relax around, and in the last few months, Fubuki had slid his way onto the list as easily as he did anything else. Edo seldom thought about it. It was just something that had happened, and he had no intentions of ever changing it. He liked the challenge that Fubuki presented just by existing, among other things.

He closed his eyes and relaxed a little. If someone had told him a year ago that he would be where he was and doing what he was now, if they weren't Saioh or Mizuchi, he would have hurt them in many painful ways, for being an idiot. He was just as glad that he hadn't known. He might have tried harder to get out of making that movie.

Which was still a piece of junk, but at least it was a finished piece of junk, and all they had to do was a bit of promotion, show up at the premiere, and that was it. He could forget about it for the rest of his life.

He wasn't quite relaxed enough to doze off, but he kept his eyes closed and simply enjoyed the way Fubuki's hand played with his hair, the occasional kiss Fubuki would drop on his cheek or lips or forehead, which he returned whenever the mood struck him.

"I told you that you loved me." Fubuki's voice was amazingly suited to sounding smug, Edo thought. "I told you that months ago, remember?"

"I still haven't said that I do," Edo replied a touch tartly, still not opening his eyes. While he enjoyed what they did, in many ways…he just wasn't sure sometimes. There was a difference between taking pleasure in someone and _loving_ them. Loving was…something he had little experience with.

Fubuki only laughed. "You don't have to, remember. I said it for you. I said it then, and I'll say it now." He shifted around, and Edo opened his eyes to see Fubuki now over him, grinning in that infuriating way of his. "I'd know if you didn't."

"How would you know?" Even as Edo asked, he began to trace one hand up under Fubuki's shirt. He'd never felt coerced into anything that they'd done. Even if he complained about it, it was always something he'd wanted to do. But…was that love?

Sometimes he wished he had someone around that he could ask about it. But the only person he knew who he would have even thought about asking _was_ Fubuki, and he wasn't exactly a disinterested observer. And the thought of asking Juudai about _love_ was just laughable.

Fubuki leaned over to kiss him thoroughly and with a great deal of passion behind it, deep chocolate-brown eyes warm and caring. Seeing someone, anyone, look at him like that always sent shivers through Edo. Though there were few who _did_ look at him like that.

_Few. One._ The way Saioh and Mizuchi would look at him was different. Fubuki was different. Again, no words would suffice. It was just what _was_.

"I'd know." It took him a moment to process that Fubuki had answered his question and then the answer itself, and the question, were tossed to the side in the interests of what they were doing. There was suddenly a great deal more skin of Fubuki's to explore, and his own clothes were somewhere that wasn't on him, and he could not be happier about that.

The last sensible thought that crossed his mind for some time was being _quite_ grateful that this little corner of the world was far enough away from everywhere that they didn't have to worry about how much noise that they made. And as each moment dripped past, Edo was not only driven to intense noise of his own, but he made certain Fubuki's enjoyment was all but echoing off of the trees.

After all, when Edo Phoenix did something, he did it _right_.

Once the noise, and the pleasure, had died down some, Edo was the one laying on top of Fubuki now. Both of them were covered in a faint sheen of sweat, and Edo was quite certain he wanted a good hot shower once they got back to civilization. But for now, he was content just to lay where he was.

He wanted to think of something to say, to explore this relationship that had been growing ever since spring, but in the afterglow, he had learned he never _could_ say anything. His entire body was simply suffused with a sort of golden glow of peace and silence. Which made it annoying when he wanted to talk, and nothing would come out but a revoltingly content kind of purr. He wasn't a _cat_. He should be able to talk sensibly at any point!

But, he decided at last as he yawned some and laid his head down on Fubuki's chest, what did he really need to talk about? At least with Fubuki. Did he have to say those words for them to be real? Or even to know it?

He wasn't quite certain when exactly he placed his head down on Fubuki's chest and just let himself drift off into a light, but quite needed doze. He only knew when Fubuki started to sit up, and he realized almost at once that the sun was setting. He shivered at a sudden touch of a cool breeze and reached for his shirt and jacket.

"What time is it?" he asked, still wanting that bath and hoping that he had a chance for it before the moon got to where they could see it, if Fubuki was all that set on watching it.

Fubuki shrugged some. He didn't have a watch at the moment, or so Edo presumed. Time had never meant anything to him, except something to conveniently ignore. "Not dark."

Edo grunted some, then quickly finished getting dressed. His motorcycle was parked by the road, which was a good fifteen minute walk from where they'd settled down to picnic, and that had been in the daylight. It was going to be a little more difficult to get back there now as the light was fading.

"Come on," he half-grumped, straightening himself out and running a hand through his hair. The leaf that Fubuki had put there was gone now, lost due to the ecstasies they'd shared. That was all to the good. He wouldn't have wanted to keep it around, anyway.

But even as he started back, Fubuki bent down and picked up a pair of leaves at random and stuck them in his pocket. "What are you doing that for?" Edo asked, his former relaxation gone completely.

"Saving them." Fubuki replied with a completely straight face. He picked up the picnic basket, now much lighter without all of the food in it, and fell into step beside Edo as he continued down the nearly invisible trail that would lead them back to the road. "Aren't souvenirs cool?"

Edo closed his eyes for a second and drew in a deep breath. "A souvenir of what?"

"Of today." Fubuki had a way of saying the stupidest answers as if they were the simplest and most easily seen in the world: and of making them see that way even to Edo. "This was a good day, wasn't it?" He paused for a moment, then grinned. "And it still is. Because it isn't over with yet."

There was no use in arguing. Edo just rolled his eyes and carried onwards. He had to focus more on where he put his feet than anything else, and swore slightly under his breath as he nearly fell over a rock he would have taken a bet hadn't been there when they'd come in.

"Here, let me." Before Edo had a chance to say anything else, Fubuki had wrapped a hand firmly around his wrist and was walking a touch ahead of him. "Just walk where I do."

He might have protested, if Fubuki hadn't shown quite clearly that he wasn't having any problems walking, no matter how difficult the lighting was. He wanted to ask why, but there was no sensible way to form the question that he could think of right away. And he was more interested in getting back to civilization and that hot bath than he was in figuring out if Fubuki really was seeing in the dark.

It was full dark by the time they arrived at the motorcycle. Edo pulled his helmet on and got settled on while Fubuki strapped the basket behind the seat and got himself on as well. Once they were all ready, he pulled out and headed down the road, grateful that the traffic appeared to be somewhat thin at the moment.

"Go that way!" Fubuki yelled in his ear, pointing past him to a turn-off some distance ahead. It would have been much harder to see what he was gesturing towards if a car hadn't been passing that particular side road at the same time.

"Why?" Edo did not like the thought of delaying that hot bath of his. And possibly a good massage, which he felt he wouldn't have any problems convincing Fubuki to help with.

"Just do it!" Fubuki swatted the back of his neck lightly, and Edo rolled his eyes for what had to be the millionth time. He might as well. Fubuki pouting was pretty, but not what he was in the mood for.

He turned down the road when they came up to it, and kept on driving. This didn't look as if it were any kind of a short-cut, and certainly not one that would lead to a hot bath, comfortable bed, and something more substantial than the picnic food had been. He slowed down some, since there weren't too many lights on this road, and he still couldn't quite see where they were going.

"Stop," Fubuki told him after a short distance. "We're almost there."

This was beginning to get to the mildly annoying stage. "Where is 'there'?" He did start to slow down, though. Fubuki appeared to know what he was doing. Edo just wanted to know what they were doing too.

Fubuki's only answer was to tug him off of the cycle once it was stopped, and then through a few trees and bushes. Edo quickly figured out that they were going up, so it had to be some sort of a hill. Within a few minutes, they were at the top. The bushes and trees thinned out, and before Edo had a chance to ask why Fubuki had wanted to stop here, the moon rose, and all of his questions were answered.

Silver wrapped all around the two of them, parting through the night with ease. Edo was convinced that he'd never seen the moon quite so full or so bright before. If this was why Fubuki had wanted to watch it, he completely understood.

Fubuki's arms slid around him and he leaned back against that strong, firm body. "I remembered this place was near here," Fubuki murmured, "and I didn't want to miss seeing it from here."

Edo nodded slightly, placing his hands on top of Fubuki's. "It's beautiful." He had never quite noticed things like this the way he had since Fubuki had come into his life. It was as if Fubuki had awakened him in ways that he'd never thought were asleep in the first place.

And as simply as that, it all fell into place in his mind. He smiled a little. "Fubuki…I love you."

He could feel Fubuki's smile. "I already knew."

**To Be Continued**


	4. Edo's Snow Fun

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** Sanity Optional  
**Chapter Title:** Edo's Snow Fun  
**Rated:** T  
**Story Word Count:** 13,253  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,304  
**Romance:** Tenjoin Fubuki x Edo Phoenix  
**Notes:** This takes place about five years after the end of Yu-Gi-Oh GX, and about three months after the previous chapter. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**LJ Challenge:** This was written for the 4seasonal LJ challenge.  
**Summary:** Spring, summer, autumn, winter. Four seasons, four situations, four sights of beauty, four moments between two people whose sanity is questionable.

* * *

Edo looked out the window for only a moment before he firmly shut the curtain and turned away. There were so many more interesting sights that he could rest his eyes on that weren't a nearly endless field of snow. One of them was currently stretched out on the couch, wearing very little in the warm room, and Edo was not ashamed to admit he was admiring the view in seconds. At least he wouldn't be ashamed to admit it to himself. Telling other people would have been an entirely different matter.

"So, what does it look like out there?" Fubuki asked. He hadn't checked the weather yet, but there had been predictions of snow from the forecasters. He still hadn't made up his mind how he felt about that.

"Snow." Edo spoke the word in minor tones of annoyance. He could deal with the snow in certain situations, but right now, he did not want to. He was not quite in the mood for skiing or snowboarding, much less doing anything that was actually social.

Fubuki sat up and grinned. The look on Edo's face made his mind up on what he wanted to feel about it. "Great! Let's get dressed and go for a walk!"

"In the snow?" Edo stared at his boyfriend, not quite believing that he had heard correctly. He knew that Fubuki's name meant 'snowstorm' and he'd called himself the Blizzard Prince, but did that actually mean he _wanted_ to be out in there if he didn't have to be? "It's warm in here."

That got only a shrug and a grin. "So that'll make it a nice place to come back to once we're done." The grin grew a little more sly. "And then we can help each other warm up."

Edo was not certain if he wanted to admit even to himself how he felt about that. "I'd rather just stay here. There's nothing out there that interesting."

"There's snow."

"I just said there's nothing out there that interesting." Edo settled himself into a chair and looked for something to do, and found it in his deck. He sorted through it carefully and quickly, new strategies and interesting twists on old ones twining through the back of his thoughts.

He scarcely noticed when Fubuki got up and went to the bedroom. Nor did he notice when Fubuki came back out, dressed warmly, and slipped for the door as quietly as a breath of air. Or to be accurate, he noticed and paid little attention. If Fubuki wanted to go out and get himself chilled, that was his business. Edo had more interesting things to look at. Could that combo work? What were the odds that he could get what he needed for it in time to make it worthwhile?

Fubuki was not out there very long. Edo also paid little mind when he came back in. He leaned forward some, thinking, and that was his downfall. Because the moment that he did, Fubuki slipped up behind him and there was a sudden shock of cold and damp down his back.

It was just as well that Fubuki had the reaction time that he did, because Edo's fist went back quickly, even as he threw himself forward and tried to get the snowball that had been so unceremoniously dropped down his back out of there. He glared over at Fubuki, blue eyes burning in anger. "What did you do that for?"

"Because I wanted to," Fubuki ticked off points on his fingers. "Because it was funny. Because you need to get outside and get some fresh air. And because it was funny."

"You dumped a snowball down my back because you thought it was funny?"

"No, I dumped one down your back because it _is_ funny. Come on! Get your jacket on, let's go outside!" Fubuki bounced up and down, eyes gleaming brilliantly, and Edo wondered, as he had so many other times, why he had gotten himself involved with this guy.

_Because he does things like this. That's why._ He couldn't imagine anyone else he knew who would have the nerve to do something like that to him and still stand there and wait to see what he would do about it. The rage from the snowball attack began to ease just a little. _Besides, if he wants to play like that…I think I can show him how it's done._ There were advantages to being in the shape that he was, after all.

With a slight huff that was only partially faked, Edo stalked into the bedroom and changed his shirt. He might be going out, but he wasn't going to risk getting sick. He had too much dueling and too much of everything else to do to worry about that. He could hear Fubuki bouncing around in the living room, as eager to get outside as a child. Well, Edo wasn't going to waste too much time. The thought of being out there was starting to appeal to him a little as well.

That had to have been Fubuki's influence on him, he decided, tugging his boots on. A year earlier, he wouldn't have so much as moved from the house if it had snowed, unless he had wanted to. But the thought of going out there, with Fubuki, was appealing to him.

_I should take him to meet Saioh and Mizuchi._ They were the only real family that he had, after all, and he wanted them to know how much Fubuki meant to him. Though he would not have been surprised in the slightest if they already knew. Mizuchi had never suffered any sort of loss to her powers, and Saioh's had been reviving themselves slowly as well.

And he wanted Fubuki to meet them as well. He was pretty sure that there would be no hard feelings from what had happened back at the Academy. Fubuki had never been known to hold a grudge.

But for the moment, he was going to go out into the snow and enjoy himself and find some kind of a way to make Fubuki regret having pushed that snowball down his back in the first place. Really, he could've just asked a few more times. Edo would've given in. Eventually. Maybe.

"If we're going to do this, then let's go." Edo grumped briefly as he stepped back into the living room. Fubuki was at the door before he had halfway finished the sentence, and Edo followed, his hands pushed into his jacket pockets.

The snowfall had lasted most of the previous night, though neither of them had been in any condition to notice it. Now, however, the sky was a clear, deep blue, that shade that a sky only developed in winter, without a single cloud visible as far as the eye could see. He wondered if he should have brought along a pair of sunglasses; the way the sunlight gleamed off the snow made it hard to see. But squinting fixed it, at least a little.

"Which way should we go?" Fubuki asked, turning his head this way and that. Edo shrugged a little, not worrying about it too much. Fubuki tilted his head and then licked at one finger, holding it up into the air.

"What did you do that for?"

Fubuki's answering grin was infectious, as always. "That's how you figure out where you want to go when you don't know. Juudai swears by it."

Edo grunted a little; it didn't make that much of a difference, now that he thought about it. It would do as well as anything else. "So, which way?"

Fubuki pointed. "That way!" That way led to a broad expanse of snow, with only a few footprints scattered through it. Edo suspected that was where Fubuki had picked up his snowball. He'd return the favor soon enough.

Together they tramped their way through the snow, which wasn't all that hard to walk in. Care had to be taken for the occasional patch of ice, but it wasn't anything Edo couldn't handle. Fubuki enjoyed skidding around on it once in a while, and Edo rolled his eyes when the brunet ended up face first in a snowdrift.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" he asked, amused slightly. Fubuki had a way of making him laugh whether he was trying to or not.

"Maybe I did." Fubuki got up and brushed the snow carefully off of himself. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Maybe I did." Edo replied, a hint of a smile on his lips. He moved on a little himself, peeking back to see if Fubuki was looking. He got lucky; the other was admiring some icicles that hung down from the roof. He patted out a couple of snowballs, then without so much as a warning, threw one of them directly at Fubuki's unguarded back.

White splattered across Fubuki's jacket, and he turned, grinning wildly. It was impossible for Edo to even be sure if he'd been surprised by it. Fubuki was like that. And true to form, he scooped up his own snowballs and had another one back in the air moments later.

Edo dodged quickly; the snow made some of his usual athletics a bit difficult to pull off, but he was an old hand at taking on unlikely odds and winning from them. Several of his snowballs landed on various parts of Fubuki, and he took a few hits of his own. He almost didn't notice until it was far too late, that he was doing something he almost never did.

He was having fun.

Fubuki was as athletic, though in different ways, as Edo was, which meant that ultimately, they were evenly matched for this. Fubuki was more inclined to risk something for a good hit, and not as inclined to dodge out of the way, since being hit himself never bothered him. It was hard to say who had won, if anyone had, by the time the snowball fight wound down. The sleek surface of the snow had been dug, kicked, and torn up in every way possible for snowball fuel, and neither of them regretted it for a moment.

"Are you ready to go back in yet?" Edo asked, tossing some of his hair back. One of Fubuki's snowballs had nailed him on the side of his head, soaking his gray hair. He wanted a good hot shower to soak the cold out of himself already. And then maybe to spend some time with Fubuki and some hot chocolate.

"Maybe in a little bit." Fubuki shook his own hair out. Three of Edo's snowballs had nailed him there and some of the snow had stuck to the strands of hair. Edo walked over and reached to work it out. He had, of course, put gloves on before coming out, but he still liked the feeling of Fubuki's hair in his fingers: at least what little bit he _could_ feel.

Edo snorted a little; he should have expected that. Fubuki was going to get every last drop of enjoyment that he could out of this. "What else did you want to do?" They'd had a walk and a snowball fight. What else was there?

He also should have expected what came next. "Ice skating! We can go down to the pond in the park! It should be frozen thick enough for that."

If it were anyone else, Edo might well have wondered if they were insane. That question had long since been answered where Fubuki was. He was, of course. And so was he. So he just shrugged. "All right." It was something to do, and it wasn't as if he couldn't do it. He looked forward to seeing how Fubuki would look on the ice. Was he going to be as graceful as he was elsewhere? A question for the ages, soon to be answered.

Fubuki ran back inside to get their skates, while Edo stamped the snow off of his boots and waited for him to come back. Living in this part of Domino City, as close to the wilderness as they could get, was interesting. They were out of the way of most of the annoyances of living around people, yet close enough if they really wanted to go see some of their friends. And some of their friends came to see them on occasion. Just two weeks earlier, Juudai had spent four nights on the couch. Neither of them had told Juudai where they were living. Not that Juudai ever needed to be told anything anymore it seemed.

What would all of this look like once night fell, Edo wondered. It was the wrong time of month for a full moon, but starlight would sparkle rather prettily. _Maybe we can come out and look later._ It wasn't that bad of a thought, he decided. Assuming that all of their snow games didn't wear them out. It had been known to happen, after all.

"Hey! Here!" Fubuki came out of the house and tossed a pair of skates over to him. "Ready to go?"

Edo caught them easily and slung them over one shoulder for ease in carrying. "Let's go." He did hope that there wouldn't be that many people around to bother them once they were there. Ever since the movie they'd made had premiered, it was harder and harder to get some privacy. It was worse than when he had won the World Championship two years earlier. There still were a few people not interested in dueling enough to be able to recognize him on the streets. The movie was rapidly putting an end to that.

Even as they walked in the direction of the park, one of their neighbors came running by. She pitched to a halt in front of Fubuki, a piece of paper and a pen in one hand, and started to hold them out to him, her lower lip trembling in excitement. She was breathing too hard to say anything but she didn't need to. Fubuki had been through all of his before. He took the paper and pen and gave her a quick autograph, then held it out to Edo.

_The things I have to do._ Edo gave his best practiced smile and signed the paper above Fubuki's name then gave it back to her. The girl looked as if she were about to faint from sheer pleasure along. Edo kept his smile on; if that was what it took to make someone happy, then the ten seconds weren't that begrudged.

"See you around!" Fubuki waved as she hurried off to meet a couple of other girls that Edo couldn't remember having seen around. Probably relatives, over for the holidays. From the way they crowded around and stared at the autographed page, he wouldn't have been surprised if a bet were involved. Kids were like that. Most kids.

"How can you like people?" Edo asked as they kept on walking. He still couldn't get himself to do it most of the time. There were exceptions, one of whom was walking beside him, but more often than not, he just couldn't do it. People irritated him just by existing.

Fubuki only shrugged. "How can you not like people?" he replied calmly. "They're great!"

"They're annoying. They always want something, they can't do things for themselves, and they never know when they're bothering someone who doesn't want to be bothered." Edo wasn't feeling especially irritable today, though someone listening to him might not have realized that.

"I just like people." Fubuki didn't even appear to want to correct Edo's impressions. That was one thing that made him a notch higher in Edo's opinion. "You don't have to. I'll do it for you."

And that was one thing that confused him. And still made Edo love him all the same. "I don't think that I'll ever understand you," he said softly. "You're the strangest person that I've ever met in my life."

"Thanks!" Fubuki leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, and Edo turned just in time so that it was on the lips. Since neither of them had any objections to that, they continued doing it for some time.

As always, kissing Fubuki was such an enjoyable activity that when they got to the park and the frozen lake, Edo wasn't quite as annoyed as he might have been to see that there were several people already there, some out on the ice, some on the side of the lake talking to each other. No one that they knew was there, which might have made it slightly more bearable for Edo, but he was determined not to let them interfere in his enjoying time with Fubuki.

Not to mention if it got to be too annoying, then he and Fubuki could just go home and enjoy themselves there, in a much more intimate setting than this.

While he got settled and got his skates on, Fubuki wandered around meeting and getting people, introducing himself and on occasion waving a hand towards Edo, introducing him as well. Edo paid almost no attention to that and just worked on getting his feet in the skates. Once he was firmly into them, he stomped his way onto the ice and moved forward carefully, keeping his balance and getting a feel for the ice itself.

He could hear people oohing and ahhing as he moved around, but what he listened for was Fubuki's familiar gasps of breath. He was all but disappointed that he didn't hear it, until gloved hands closed over his, and Fubuki's warm breath ghosted across his face. "You look like you need someone else out here with you."

"Perhaps." Edo did not always work well with others. But for this, and for Fubuki, he was willing to try. Together the two of them started to skate. It was nothing too spectacular, at least not by professional ice skater standards, but it held a magic and a majesty all of its own. Edo put aside the thought that people he didn't know were watching him. There were enough who did that when he dueled, and this was another kind of show. He didn't care that they were watching him with Fubuki. Fubuki wouldn't care no matter what, and his opinion was what mattered other than Edo's own.

Back and forth they went over the ice, performing figure eights and jumping over some logs that had been caught out there, and working their way through more and more complicated routines, until at last they both found themselves on the edge of the lake once more.

"That was incredible! You're fantastic!" The praise flew thick and fast from all corners of the crowd, and people shoved mugs of hot chocolate and hot snacks into their hands from all sides. Edo smirked a little; he knew how to work a crowd.

"You should see us when we practice some," he declared. "Maybe next time." He didn't know if he meant it or not, but it was better to leave the crowd wanting more.

"Looking forward to it!" More compliments came, and Edo just drank his hot chocolate and smiled as if the cameras were on him and thought about how good it would be to go back home and enjoy several relaxing hours focusing on Fubuki.

Fubuki, who had wormed his way into his heart by being as crazy as Edo himself could be, who had shown him love of a kind unlike any other in the world. Edo met his gaze briefly and smiled as he did. They were close enough so he could lean over and whisper into Fubuki's ear, "I love you."

And as he always did and always would, Fubuki leaned back and whispered, "I know."

**The End**


End file.
